Investors are flooding into gold like it's the financial crisis all over again

Investors are flooding into precious metals as fears of a global
slowdown grip markets and send people toward so-called safe-haven
assets.

"The Flow Show," a weekly note from Bank of America Merrill Lynch
that tracks the movement of money around global markets, shows
that this week investors poured money into the precious-metal
markets at some of the highest levels in about six years.

In total, $1.6 billion (£1.1 billion) of money tracked by BAML
was spent buying up gold and other precious metals, including
silver and platinum. Only one week since 2010, early in 2015, saw
higher inflows into precious metals.

Here's the chart:

BAML

Gold's reputation as an asset people buy in times of trouble is
legendary, with the precious metal almost always seeing big
inflows at times of economic and financial crises. Gold's appeal
as a physical asset makes it incredibly attractive when markets
are volatile and uncertain.

To emphasise the fears wracking the markets, the biggest outflows
last week, BAML shows, were from three risky asset areas getting
slammed: $6.8 billion (£4.6 billion) flowed away from equities,
$2.5 billion (£1.7 billion) moved out of high-yield bonds, and
$1.1 billion (£750 million) left emerging-market government debt.

The high levels of cash flowing into the precious-metal markets
have sent prices soaring in 2016, and they're now at a one-year
peak. Since trading began for the year, gold's spot price has
jumped by more than 16%, taking it to its highest level in a
year. Silver has also climbed, up 13%, while platinum has gained
7%. Here's how gold looks in 2016: